Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Grandaddy's DiSaronno & Ice Cream

I have a really special memory of my parents' liquor cupboard as a mysterious little den of interest. Happily, my parents weren't hard-hitting alcoholics, and so the liquor cabinet didn't get constant action. They do enjoy wine, but as for the hard liquor, it was only on various rare occasions that we ever saw them get that stuff out. I remember being interested in the cabinet, because all the bottles inside it were different colors and shapes, and they all seemed to be treated like special goodies that were enjoyed in moderation and only every once in a blue moon.

One thing I remember is that my parents enjoyed putting a little splash of liqueur on their ice cream sometimes. It never interested me, because I was a kid, and straight up ice cream was damn well good enough on its own. It was definitely "a thing" in my family, though, because my grandparents and my aunts also did it sometimes.

I adored my grandpa!

In fact, in the last few years of his life (after my grandmother had died), my sweet grandpa became quite an enthusiastic (aka "nightly") fan of ice cream and liqueur. He had one favorite combo in particular: Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream with a substantial glug of DiSaronno poured on top. My aunt Laura was doing a lot of his grocery shopping, and at some point she realized that he was really making his way through those bottles of DiSaronno pretty quickly! Haha. Time to have a bit more fruit for dessert, Granddaddy!

Even after being so fascinated with the liqueur cabinet as a youngster, I've never developed a taste for alcohol of any sort... with one exception. Somewhere along the line, I became quite fond of boozy sweeties. I think this started later, but I do remember some cool alcohol-y chocolate-covered plums that my parents' friends sent them from Denmark. I loved those things! For someone who doesn't really drink, I actually have a fairly extensive liqueur cabinet of my own... just so I can make boozy cookies, add some rum to an apple pie, or douse a little DiSaronno on my ice cream in honor of my grandpa.

Along those lines, I went out and fetched us a pint of Purely Decadent Mocha Almond Fudge. Thank goodness that someone out there makes a vegan version of this Most Esteemed Flavor. I love it so. Just like when I was a little kiddo, I still usually just eat my ice cream straight up - but in Grandaddy's honor, I poured some DiSaronno on top of my scoop! My thoughts? That DiSaronno biz is pretty heavy handed: it's strong and pungent and sweet all at once. At first, I was a little shocked, but it really grew on me. The liqueur is warming alongside the cool ice cream, and it opens up the sinuses and palette for more alert ice cream appreciation. I enjoyed it!

It seems like maybe this affection of mine for alcohol in my sweets was almost inevitable - maybe it was in my genes all along!

p.p.s. Have you heard about Kelly Peloza's upcoming cookbook called "Cheers to Vegan Sweets"? It's all recipes of "drink-inspired vegan desserts." I cannot wait to check it out, it sounds right up my boozy little alley!

I love this story...your grandpa would have loved hanging out with my grandparents. We always had big Italian holiday dinners and for dessert my grandma would haul out a heaping ton of Italian cookies and the liqueurs, including Amaretto di Saronno...it had to be that brand. Us kids would just chow down the cookies with milk but the adults, especially my grandpa, would eat their biscotti slowly, dipping them in coffee or liqueur and telling stories and jokes way into the night. Amaretto was the first liqueur I ever had and I thought it was like candy in a bottle. :)Your cookie recipe is superyumful...I definitely will be making these! Do you still give out your recipe zines? Many thanks!

What a lovely story! Amaretto is one of my favorite alcoholic drinks (there aren't that many ;-)), so I have to give this a try. One time, in the Netherlands, I tried Amaretto on 'poffertjes' (tiny thick pancakes) and that was also mindblowing good.

<3 <3 Your stories are so heartwarming. I love this one. It feels like it was lifted out of my family! I'm the same way about alcohol,but DiSaronno is actually one of the few things I like, and of course I take it over ice cream! I'll have to try your cookies.